LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), April 20 (SeeNews) – Slovenia's defence spending will increase by some 43 million euro ($53.1 million) year-on-year starting in 2018, and will reach 679 million euro by 2023, the government said.
Calculated as percentage of Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP), defence spending will gradually increase to 1.11% in 2023, the government said in a statement on Thursday after adopting the country's medium-term defence programme.
The programme sets out the objectives and the primary operational and developmental guidelines for the defence sector in the period 2018-2023.
"The defence policy will be oriented towards achieving the country’s defence interests and goals through bilateral and multilateral cooperation at the UN, NATO, the EU and OSCE, i.e. with allied, partner and friendly nations, and will support the efforts of the international community towards achieving and keeping of peace and increasing security and stability around the world," the government noted.
Recently, Slovenia's neighbour Croatia agreed to acquire 12 F-16 multi-purpose combat aircraft from Israel for some $500 million. The aircraft will be fully adapted to NATO standards and are expected to serve Croatia's air force for at least 25 years.
($=0.810500 euro)